The date
by TitaniaSarys
Summary: Part 01 of the Tales of the Seventh Hokage and the Greatest Medical Kunoichi series. Narusaku Naruto wants to ask Sakura out on a date. Shenanigans ensure. Set after the war with Kaguya but before the Boruto movie (alternative plot).


**Hi guys, Ti here and I have a new story for you! I'm a true Narusaku fan, have been for years, but I can understand the arguments of people shipping other pairings, especially Naruhina or Sasusaku. But I won't discuss it here and I won't accept meaningless shipping war reviews so please guys, if you don't like this pairing, just don't read.**

 **That being said, I have two reasons why I decided only now to write a Narusaku fanfiction. SPOILER ALERT : I saw the Boruto movie and the Last movie, and although I knew that Kishimoto had settled for Naruhina, I was very disappointed with both films. The Last to me didn't make any sense, mostly because it depicts Naruto and Hinata's relationship like some kind of magical Disney-like perfect relationship that almost happened over night. Whereas the Narusaku relationship in the manga/anime is more real, that's how that stuff happens in real life, you first get to know the person, you spend some time with them, go through hardships, see each other at your best and at your worst... But anyway, I was very disappointed, mostly because I'm biased.**

 **But the reason why I'm disappointed in the Boruto movie is because they completely destroyed the characters. Boruto and Himawari are the cutest kids ever, I have absolutely no issue about that. But Naruto... The guy is totally worn out and depressed! And Sakura had been lowered to the role of the perfectly obedient and dependant housewife. Whereas both are strong willed characters that would do so much more than just that. Sakura for instance, what happened with your medical career? I'm pretty sure she wouldn't give up on that.**

 **Anyway, I was very disappointed and so here is my contribution and my love to the fabulous world of fanfictions. I hope you guys will enjoy and don't hesitate to review or send me messages, it's always a pleasure to read you guys!**

 **See you soon!**

 **TS**

* * *

It took a month for the village of Konoha to return to normal after the War against Kaguya. Naruto was sure this conflict would somehow end up in History books and he was alright with that. After all, he never got tired of being called a Hero. Things were going well after the war: he could eat all the ramen he wanted for free at Ichiraku's, everybody in the village respected him if not admired him, he had become one of the greatest Shinobi alive and Kakashi-sensei, wait no, the Sixth Hokage, had told him that he would recommend him to be the next Hokage when his time will be over.

Everything was great, except for one thing: he didn't get the girl.

In every fairytale, the hero always gets the girl at the end, right? He didn't want her as a reward though, no he wanted to live a true love story, to be finally happy with the woman he had always been in love with. In fact, he had no idea how she felt about him now. Sure, she respected him just like she did after their first important mission together into the Land of Waves although she only told him that years afterwards. She liked him as a friend too, he could joke with her, tease her (although she would still punch him, hard) and he loved to see her smile. He somehow felt she was comfortable in his presence, that she liked hanging out with him (which she did more often since the war ended) but to say that she loved him? He didn't know. Truthfully, he was just a man, he liked simple things and she had messed up with his feelings once under the falling snow, he was just too afraid to be made out a fool if he assumed she was feeling something else towards him that pure friendship.

But he had also seen her ignore completely Sasuke, who had been his greatest rival of all times for uncountable reasons. She didn't mention him anymore, she hadn't run after him when he suddenly decided to leave two weeks ago, going on one of those mysterious quests of his, nor did she swoon when other people mentioned him. It was as if he had become a person like any other in the village. As if she had moved on.

He didn't find it particularly strange, just… surprising. Now that he thought about it, in the last year she had less and less seemed to reach out to Sasuke as if she was slowly detaching herself from him, as if she was growing up. Naruto had seen her evolve, mostly up close and he marveled at the chance he had of seeing her grow and become the beautiful and amazing Shinobi she was today. She was one of the strongest Shinobi in the village and everybody could rely on her. She had actually become some sort of Hero too, in her own way, even though no one referred to her as such.

He wanted to ask her out on a date but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Things were more than just complicated between them and frankly, he was lost. He wasn't the kind to chicken, especially for something so trivial, but he couldn't find the courage to ask her out. It was at times like these that he particularly wished his parents were still there. His father could have given him advice about girls for instance because Naruto had no idea how to ask Sakura out.

That's why he asked Shikamaru to help him out instead. Out of all the male Shinobi of his age, Shikamaru was the guy he knew the best and with whom he spent the most time (besides Sasuke when he was still part of Team 7 or Sai). Now that they were all Jonin, things were different. There was no Team 7 anymore, anybody could be paired with anyone on missions. They didn't have a teacher supervising them and it had happened that they in fact were the teachers. Naruto had been thinking about what role he wanted to have in the village. Being Hokage was his dream and he was now closer than ever to accomplishing it. But he didn't want to be a teacher. He sucked at explaining so he was certain he'd do a poor job at teaching. So he just did missions and helped out Kakashi while waiting for his turn to become Hokage. Which could and probably would take years, but still. Shikamaru didn't want to be a teacher either and rather focused on the preparations for the Shinobi exams and assistance to the Hokage, just like Shizune helped out Tsunade back in the days.

They were both walking down the street, Naruto following Shikamaru who had to run an errand for Kakashi and was, as usual, complaining about it.

"I'm telling you, it's such a pain. Why can't the Hokage do it himself?"

"Stop complaining… anyway," Naruto said, blushing. "I was wondering if you could help me out with something… I… I'd like to ask someone out…"

Shikamaru was a bit surprised at first and looked Naruto up and down as if he believed that Naruto had already asked said someone out. He looked at the blond man intently to see if he was bluffing but apparently he wasn't.

"It's high time you ask her out, I think Sakura's been waiting for you to make the first move."

"She's waiting?" Naruto couldn't believe it.

"Yeah, it's pretty obvious from the way she looks at you, especially when you're not looking."

"I thought… she was still…"

"Sasuke?" Shikamaru laughed. "She got over him. That guy never showed her any attention and tried to kill her. It's all well now but before, when he went rogue…" Shikamaru's face fell for a few seconds. "I know he was our friend, and that's what hurts the most. But we weren't part of his team. To us, he wasn't our friend anymore. The way you and Sakura were hurt because of him… Trust me, I would've thrown my fist into his face if it wasn't such a pain."

They were silent until they reached the building where Shikamaru was supposed to run the errand. "Anyway," he said, "you should totally ask her out."

"You think she'd say yes?"

"It's pretty obvious she likes you. I mean, she'd protect you with her life, she's blushing at your compliments and she's expecting you to give her some. She punches you the most and sometimes for no apparent reason. She doesn't mind taking care of you when you're injured or sick and she likes to spend time with you. Besides, she always dresses up better when she knows you'll be there."

Naruto squinted his eyes. "Were you spying on Sakura?"

Shikamaru just facepalmed. "You're so dense sometimes!" Then he lifted his head as if he just came with the most brilliant idea ever. "Since when did you stop calling her Sakura-chan?"

Naruto lowered his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, she calls me Naruto… and we're not kids anymore, so…"

Shikamaru just smiled, wished him good luck after giving him some dating tips and disappeared inside the building. Naruto gulped down and made his way to the Haruno's house in the village center. The village itself didn't change much, but technology was more and more present and things were slowly changing for the better. Despite that, he knew Konoha by heart and managed to find Sakura's house quite easily. He wanted to surprise her and so he stopped by a flower shop to buy her a bouquet of summer flowers since red roses were too connoted (that's what Shikamaru said, although Naruto didn't know a thing about flower symbolism). Of course, the flower shop had to be the Yamanaka's. Ino teased him during the whole ten minutes it took him to chose but in the end, she made such a wonderful bouquet, Naruto was glad he came there.

"So, when is this date with my dear best friend going to happen?"

"How did you know it was for Sakura?"

Ino rolled her eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're head over heels for her. Always have been. And she likes you. Always blushed when we're gossiping about you."

"You're… gossiping about me?"

"Tenten and I mostly. Hinata is just too shy to say anything, especially about you and Sakura just talks about you, no gossip. As if she was trying to safeguard your reputation or something. But what would life be without a little gossip, hum?"

Naruto thanked her and walked out of the store. Ino's mom couldn't help but frown. "Why did you lie to him?"

Ino leaned on her elbows on the counter, looking through the shop's window, watching Naruto bump into someone before heading in the direction of Sakura's house. "I didn't lie, mom. He really is deeply in love with her. She wasn't at first, but now she is too, he's grown on her and she learned to see who he really is. That's why she, and me too, got over Sasuke. Because he was just a childhood crush, a fantasy. And it's so cute when she's defending him! Everybody in the village knows they are meant for each other but them! I had to help destiny somehow!"

Her mother rolled her eyes before resuming her work and Ino promised herself to ask Sakura later how that date went.

It took Naruto fifteen minutes to finally gather the courage to approach the window to Sakura's room. She was reading a heavy book, something about advanced medical jutsu. She had some scrolls strewn on the table on which she was working and every now and then she would grab a pencil and draw some kind of scheme, mostly chakra patterns through different parts of the body. Naruto spent five more minutes just watching her from his crouched position on the balcony, fascinated. He was also wondering what she was studying for, since she was already working as a doctor at the hospital.

Suddenly, she looked through the window and screamed while falling from her chair. As a result, Naruto jumped in fright and fell off the balcony, onto the street below and landed hard on his face, making his nose bleed. Sakura yelled at him for a few minutes, towering above him in the street where she came to meet him before suddenly dragging him inside. She said her parents went shopping and took him to her room where she made him sit on her bed while she retrieved her own medical kit that she had composed herself through the years.

She was kneeling in front of him and rubbing cotton on his nose while slightly lifting his chin. Her hand was firm on his face but gentle at the same time. She had this deep concentrated look on her face, the same she wore every time she was healing someone. She looked so professional in those moments and yet so magnificent, strong and protective at the same time like a lioness. She could use her chakra to heal him but it would be a waste for something as harmless as a nosebleed.

"Seriously…" she let out after a moment. "You should be more careful. That was just one floor you fell from. I know you've survived worst but still. Don't be so reckless." She paused and pushed a cotton ball into his nostrils to stop the blood. "Don't ever scare me like that, baka!" She then playfully punched him in the arm.

Naruto simply grinned and gave her the flowers. Now, they were completely destroyed and most of the petals were gone or about to fall off, but she took them anyway and put them in a vase that she placed next to the photo of the original Team 7 from the day it was formed.

"Sakura, would you like to… hum…" Naruto stuttered and looked away, his words a little muffled because of the cotton blocking his nose.

Sakura just leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"I'd love to. Pick me up at eight tonight."

When Naruto went outside afterwards and yelled his joy in the streets, the villagers really thought that he had suddenly become Hokage. No one had seen him smile so much before.


End file.
